Equinix increases temperature in its data centers to reduce environmental impact

Video: Equinix driving innovation for sustainability

The move will see Equinix operating its facilities closer to 27°C (80°F) to bring their temperatures up to A1A standards from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).

The company believes the change in operating temperature will contribute to its overall sustainability measured in Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE). PUE is a metric used by data centers to measure energy efficiency. It is calculated by dividing the total power drawn by the facility by the power used to run IT equipment.

“Our cooling systems account for approximately 25% of our total energy usage globally,” said Raouf Abdel, the executive vice president of global operations for Equinix. “With this new initiative, we can intelligently adjust the thermostat in our data centers in the same way that consumers do in their homes. Once rolled out across our current global data center footprint, we anticipate energy efficiency improvements of up to 10% in various locations.”

The new initiative is part of the company’s more significant commitment to becoming a climate-neutral organization by 2030, as well as other sustainability efforts, such as signing two new Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) in Finland to generate renewable energy. This brings their total renewable energy capacity under long-term contracts globally to approximately 300MW. Their renewable energy coverage has been over 90% since 2018.

Jon Lin, the executive vice president and general manager of Data Center Services for Equinix added that the initiative “has the potential to significantly benefit businesses as they seek to reduce their Scope 3 carbon emissions in their supply chain to meet their overall climate targets.”

Equinix claims that its cooling systems account for 25% of its total energy usage globally. The new initiative will help them reduce this significantly while supporting their sustainability goals.

“With this new initiative, we can intelligently adjust the thermostat in our data centers in the same way that consumers do in their homes. Once rolled out across our current global data center footprint, we anticipate energy efficiency improvements of as much as 10% in various locations,” added Abdel.

Article Topics

cooling  |  data center  |  Equinix  |  power management  |  sustainability